The truck tonnage gains of late summer were wiped away in September, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) announced Tuesday.
ATA states truck freight tonnage in its For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index was down 0.9% in September, its lowest level in three months after sequential gains in July and August.
“Tonnage levels remain choppy, but they are up 2.1% since hitting a low in January,” says ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Compared to the high three years earlier, however, truck tonnage is still off by 3.9%. In fact, September’s tonnage level was essentially the same as in September 2023, underscoring the tough freight market over the last few years.”
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In September, ATA states its advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index equaled 114.2, down from 115.3 in August. The index, which is based on 2015 as 100, rose 0.8% from the same month last year after increasing 0.4% in August. Year-to-date, compared with the same period in 2024, tonnage was up 0.2%.
August’s SA increase was unchanged from that first reported in ATA’s late September announcement.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which calculates raw changes in tonnage hauled, equaled 114.7 in September, 2.6% below August’s reading of 117.7.
